There’s a responsibility borne by every NHL rookie: at the end of every practice, rookies collect the pucks.

William Nylander was doing just that on Thursday as a gathering of Leafs, Marlies and players from other teams wrapped up a summer workout at the MasterCard Centre.

It’s tempting to imagine the skilled Nylander doing that this year as a Leaf.

The 18-year-old, fresh off signing his entry level contract, arrived in Toronto on Tuesday and started working with some future teammates — Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, David Clarkson — almost right away.

“You’ve got to go every day to get to where you want to be,” said Nylander. “I expect to be the best I can be.

“My goal is to try to play in the NHL. To do that, I have to work hard every day at everything.”

Outside of saying hello and exchanging pleasantries, Nylander hasn’t had much interaction with the team’s established stars. Although in a nod to his status, his equipment is in the Leaf room at the MCC, while the likes of Frederik Gauthier and Josh Leivo use the Marlies room.

Leafs fans will get their first glimpse of Nylander, the Leafs top pick from the June draft, in action next month in London as Nylander heads the list of players the team has invited to its four-day rookie tournament.

Nylander will be joined by other highly touted youngsters, including defenceman Rinat Valiev — the only other pick from the 2014 draft to get an invitation — as well as defenceman Matt Finn, forwards Leivo, Gauthier and Connor Brown.

“It’s going to be a great experience to get some games under your legs,” said Nylander. “It will be a good experience heading into the upcoming camp.

“They know what kind of player I am. I just have to play my game and not try to do too much, just play the game I normally play.”

The Leafs players will compete in three games against prospect teams from the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators beginning on Sept. 13.

Nylander was wearing No. 62 on his Leaf helmet. His favourite number is 88, but not because of Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks.

“A lot of people think it’s for Patrick Kane. He’s a great player. I love watching him,” said Nylander. “But when it came to picking numbers (in Sweden) I wanted 92 because my father wore that. But I was playing with my dad, so I chose 88 because my brother (Alex) wore it growing up.”

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